Cattle-guard



(No Model.)

J. T. HALL.

CATTLE GUARD. No. 390,592. Patented Oct. 2, 1888.

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UNITED i STATES PATENT @EE-ICE.

JAMES T. HALL, OF ST. LOUIS, MICHIGAN.

CATTLE- GUARD.

SPECIPC'ATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 390,592, dated October2. 1888.

Application filed May 21, 1888.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES T. HALL, a citizen of the United States,residing at St. Louis, in the county of Gratiot and State of Michigan,have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin CattleGuards, ofwhich the following is a specification, reference being had therein tothe accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in railwaycattle-guards, the object of which is to prevent the cattle fromstraying upon the railway-tracks at the roadcrossings. In the presentstate of the art such cattle-guards are preferably constructed to formpermanent surface obstructions placed across the track at theroad-crossings to destroy the footing of cattle; and to this endmetallic bars have been used, set up on edge and connected by cross-barsto form gratings, which could be readily secured upon thesleepers acrossthe track. Surface-guards of this kind have been found, when properlyconstructed, to electually deter cattle from walking over them; butwhile this object has been obtained satisfactorily experience hasdemonstrated that in their construction little or no attention has beenpaid to the safety of railway-trains, and most cattle-guards of thisclass are a constant menace and liable to lead to serious accidents,since a dangling brake-beam, a broken truss-rod, a trailing chain, orother loose part of the car or locomotive may get caught in thecattle-guard, andin tearing it up may produce disastrous consequences.

The object of my invention is so to construct a cattle-guard of theclass described that all liability to cause accidents to railway-trainsfrom the causes mentioned is excluded; and to this end my inventionconsists in constructing the cattle-guard of a series of bars placedparallel tothe track and connected together in the form of a grating bycross-bars placed below the surface of the track, whereby allpossibility of any loose or dangling parts from a passing train catchingon such cross-bars is entirely excluded.

In the drawings which accompany this specication, Figure l is a planview of my irnproved cattle-guard. Fig. 2 is a cross-section 0n line :o:c in Fig. 1. Fig. 8 is a longitudinal section on line y y. Fig. iis anenlarged cross- Scrial No. 274,548. (No model.)

section showing the fastening of the guardrails together by means of thecross-bar and rail-clips, and Fig. 5 is a perspective view of across-bar provided with rail-clips integrally formed therewith.

A, B, and C are three series of bars, preferably alternating in heightfor the purpose of more effectuall y destroying the footing for cattle,as described and claimed in a patent granted to me March 6, 1888, No.379,107. The ends of these bars are cutoff on an ineline, as shown inthe before-mentioned patent; but instead of flat bars, I make use inthis construction of T-iron bars placed at suitable distances apartparallel with the rails, their dat bearings resting on the ties andhaving an upward presentation of sharp edges.

As is usual, fences are built on both sides of the track to narrow theopen space left for the passage of the train, and in this space thecattlc-guard is placed, in three sections, one section guarding thespace between the rails and the other sections guarding the sectionsleft open between the rails and the adjoining fences; and to saveexpense in securing the guard to the sleepers and to permit its readyremoval in case of repair to the track the bars of each section areconnected into a grating. This I accomplish by means of cross-bars D,which are constructed and arranged to attach to the under side of theguard-rails by means of railclips E. These rail-clips may be in partdetachable and in part formed integral with the cross-bars, as shown inFig. 4, wherein everyV alternate rail-clip is secured to the cross-barby a suitable bolt, while the intermediate railclips are formed integralwith the bar, or all the rail-clips may be formed integral with thecross-bar, as shown in Fig. 5, and in this latter construction the clipsare alternately` formed near the opposite edges `of the cross-bar, so asto allow the guard-rails to be engaged oblique] y between the clips, andthen secured by turning the rails at right angles to the cross-bar,whereby the clips are madeto clamp the guardrails.

In constructing the guard with the last-described cross-bars eachsection is rst set up with the rails obliquely to the cross-bars andthen squared by means of a few spikes. The

guard may then be finally secured to the ties.

IOO

The crossbars are placed in such relation to the ties in the track as tocome between the ties, so that the guard-rails may rest on the ties. Theobject of this arrangement is to bring the crossbars below the top ofthe ties, whereby they become embedded in the road-bed7 and aretherefore entirely out of the Way, and cannot become a-source of dangerby affording a broken brake-beam or other object trailing on the grounda chance to engage therein and tear the guard up, which would inevitablycause damage or disaster to a train, as experience with other guards hasdemonstrated.

The spirit of my invention consists, therefore, in constructing ametallic-surface cattleguardin such a manner that no edges, corners, orother obstacles are thereby placed in the longitudinal direction of theroad-bed, above the ties or the surface of the road-bed.

2o That I claim as my invention isl. A metallicsurface cattle-guardcomposed of longitudinal bars or guard-rails supported upon the ties andassembled into the form of gratings by means of cross-bars connectingthem on the under side between the ties, sub- 25 stantially asdescribed.

2. A metallic-surface cattle-guard composed of T-bars supported upon theties in the lon` gitudinal direction of the rails and assembled in theform of gratings by means of cross bars 3o on their under side, and ofrail-clips securing them to the cross-bars, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof Iafx my signature, in

presence of two witnesses, this 5th day ofMay, 35

